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2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Ram 1500 V8

Automatic transmission

70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The air conditioner has not worked properly from Day 1. It was taken to the dealer several times and never completely repaired. In the meantime, it apparently acquired a leak also. The passenger side would not cool properly, if at all. The primary owner was normally the only occupant in the vehicle and he traveled a lot for work, so he quit taking it in to have it looked into.

This still does not work properly and it has to be charged each year to have any cooling. Dodge never helped out on this issue and I don't expect they ever will. Again, this is another way of making certain that this is reported for Dodge vehicles.

Ram 1500 5.7L

Automatic transmission

82,000 miles

I was just surprised at the way my dashboard started to crack. My heat on the drivers side gave out and started at to blow out cold air. Other than that, right now I will not complain. I'm not hard on my cars so I guess i have been kind of blessed that I haven't had that many problems. My catalytic converter went bad and I had to replace it.

Ram 1500 SLS 4.7L

Automatic transmission

100,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

heat/ac is dodges' FAIL!!!! how hard is it to control heat and ac? I mean really. whether its inferior material (plastic crap) or dainty control components...whatever, dodge has a "pile" that really pisses me off come fall when all the hot air is on the rh side of the cab. takes about 20 mins for the heat to eventually "sneak" over to the drivers side. really?!

I have had the plenum replaced (since you cant buy the door alone), had it reprogrammed twice only to have it FAIL over and over.

Ram 1500 Quad Cab Slt 5.7L

Automatic transmission

63,000 miles

I live in TX and need A/C for most of the year. My A/C was working, but very little air was coming through the vents. I searched online and found the problem...a broken blend door that had fallen down and was blacking the flow of air into the cabin. I also found the solution. Just take out the blower motor on the inside right and reach up into the plastic housing and broken blend door will be laying right there blocking the air flow.

This was a free fix except for the cost of dinner out because my hand was too big and I had to recruit my wife to help. Well worth it.

The ability to control the air flow as designed is not there, but the ridiculous cost to replace a blend door with one that will likely brake again was avoided.

Ram 1500 SLT 4.7L

Automatic transmission

71,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

so sick of this truck. Paid to have the heater core replaced along with a blend door at the time. Then less than a year later I have no heat on the drivers side, say another blend door is busted. What a joke.

Ram 1500 SLT 5.7L Hemi

Automatic transmission

92,000 miles

No A/C in the middle of a Southern Summer, due to bad design. The pin broke on the end of the door, and after much research, the best course of action (This was NOT covered by Dodge) was an after-market door replacement that was a pain to install. A DC motor turning and pushing against a 1/8 inch piece of plastic? Really? This is an engineering design that you're proud of? THEN you refuse to stand behind your product. Bad, bad, bad, bad design. Even worse responsibility taking. I do not understand why Dodge is going out of their way to infuriate/alienate their customer base.

Ram 1500 SLT 4.7L VR

Automatic transmission

60,000 miles

Driving down the road with the a/c running and started to smell coolant, looked down and it was pouring in the passenger floorboard. Heater coil started to leak. For the summer I just plugged up the hoses, but once winter came threw in some stop leak and problem fixed. $600 to have it replaced as the entire dash would have to be removed.

Ram 1500 BLK 5.7

Automatic transmission

105,000 miles

i love my truck and i always get compliments but they don't know that the engine light is on again after i paid 281.00 to fix the sensor it stayed off for 2 weeks and when i travel a little while like 50 miles the lightening bolt comes on i have to stop and restart or it runs bad and i god the crack in the dash for no reason and no heat during winter i just make enough to make my payments i got 1 more year just pray it lasts my life changed so much i had brain surgury little money i got i need it to keep a roof over my children me and wife but we love our truck don't need no one to feel sorry for me just pray for me me and my wife we now ministers we preach and teach the word of God to where we are let thank you God Bless it still runs

Ram 1500 SLT 4.7L V8

Automatic transmission

75,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My quad cab 4.7L dodge Ram SLT had the heater core go at 75,000 miles. No heat in the middle of winter!! Of course the warranty was only 7 years / 70,000 miles and the dealer wouldn't budge to help one bit. Looking into the problem further the truck needed a new thermostat, new radiator, and the top end of the engine rebuilt: new head gaskets and cylinder heads milled and rebuiltall in it was over $4,000 to get it back working right. Unfortunately it wasn't worth selling in non-working condition and I still owed on it so I had to go ahead and fix it. What upset me the most other then spending that much money is I kept this truck near mint, did all preventative maintenance, and never beat on this vehicle. Up until then it ate no coolant and never ran hot or over-heated. It was out of the blue.

What's even worse is this happened TWICE! 6 months later at 82,000 miles coming home from a trip I was watching the thermostat slowly move pass the middle ground towards the hot mark. I immediately pulled over to the side of the interstate and it was too late. Within one minute of stopping I heard a loud sissssss and then the heater core blew part dumping all the antifreeze from my entire cooling system onto my girlfriends feet, flooding my interior. The dealer said it needed head gaskets and heater core again. Of course the original dealership only guaranteed 90 days on parts and no labor coverage so that was no help. They suggested a new engine as they said mine must have a "hot spot" or "something causing pressure spikes" in the cooling system.

I choose to put it back together and sold the truck at a huge loss with full disclosure. I just couldn't deal with the uncertainty of that truck. Long story short I would tell everyone to stay clear of any 2003 4.7L dodge Ram. The money you save on repairs would be better spent on the higher sale price of more reliable trucks from the likes of Chevy/Ford.

Ram 1500 4.7L

Manual transmission

129,950 miles

I had low air flow in my 2003 Ram 1500. I had noticed this about two years ago, but "lived" with the problem. Today I had some time to look into the problem in depth. I dropped the blower and the fresh air/ recirc. damper was laying on top of the air opening, blocking the flow by 80%. The damper door is broken where it connects to the actuator's extension shaft. I was able to press the extension shaft out, after removing the two screws on the actuator through the opening above the glove box. Looking at the damper it appeared to be significantly stressed ( twisted receptacle ) by the the actuator, which eventually caused it to break. I glued the pieces back together and reattached everything except the blower. Viewing the damper while rotating the air flow control knob I was able to observe its movement. The actuator continues to try to move the damper after it is in its full closed position - hence stressing the pivot receptacle. Feeling that the damper was going to break again, I disconnected the power to the actuator and taped the damper shut, allowing fresh air only. I want to replace the damper, however feel that it too will be over-stressed and break.

It appears that this is an on-going issue with the Ram trucks. I will be checking further to see if Dodge acknowledges this as a manufacturing defect.

Ram 1500 SLT 4.7L

Ram 1500 ST 4WD 4.7L V8

Manual transmission

31,000 miles

This was the 3rd time, count 'em, three, that my bled door broke. I even got to the point of turning the fan to low before changing the damper positions to keep the door coupling from being strained. I don't know if any Dodge mechanics even know how to calibrate the servo motors in the HVAC system as the factory service manual instructs them to. From now on, I will not turn the dampers to full dash position or full defrost position. I figure that the servo motor will not strain against the stop if I do not go to the limit of the door operation. There is no way in hell that my blend door should have broken 3 times in only 31,000 miles. I am very easy on my truck, almost to the point of being anal in the way I care for it. I have also had the water pump fail and the front main bearing start leaking oil. I will NEVER buy a Dodge vehicle again.

Ram 1500 ST 4WD 4.7L V8

Manual transmission

17,000 miles

This was the second time the bled door broke on my truck. The dealer had repaired it under warranty the first time, but they gave me a "one time customer satisfaction" repair this time and split the cost with me. The blend door broke at the coupling where it connects to the servo motor. When I changed the air output to defrost, and listened closely, you could hear the servo motor strain as it pushed against the door stop. I do not believe the mechanic calibrated the servo motor correctly, as stated in the service manual, the first time they replaced the blend door.

Ram 1500 ST 4WD 4.7L V8

Manual transmission

3,000 miles

I heard a loud snap when changing from heat to defrost, then no air would come out defrost vent, only the floor vents. I took the truck in to Dodge and they verified the blend door had broken and repaired it under warranty.

Ram 1500 1500 4.7L V8

Automatic transmission

88,000 miles

Okay so just like everyone else I have this blend air door problem. I took it in this morning and the guys says "oh no problem we get these all the time." Later I get a call that my extended warranty doesn't cover it and it is over $600.00 to fix it. I asked if he was kidding. He promptly laughed and told me no because they had to take off the dash, I told him that for $600 I could take the dash off myself and he said not likely, little does he know that we have taken it off before.

So I have called the warranty company "Service Contracts through Daimler Chrysler" and they said no your $3000.00 warranty only covers like 500 pieces, wish I had known that when we bought the darn thing. I have since called Dodge and asked why this hasn't been a recall if so many have this problem, so far I have been given a case number and they should get back to me by tomorrow, we will see. If all else fails like everyone else I will go buy the $40.00 part and install it myself but I don't think we will ever be buying another warranty again and depending on how mad we are after a few months/years we may not ever buy another Dodge again either.

Ram 1500 SLT V8

Automatic transmission

65,000 miles

Noticed that air condition worked fine while truck was moving. When I was at a stop (red light, train, drive through window, etc.) the truck would begin to give warm air from vents. This was a real pain, in Texas summer weather (Feb - Nov!). Turned out the condenser fan burned out and needed to be replaced. Found replacement at junk yard for $85 and labor ran me $200.

Ram 1500 5.7L V8

Automatic transmission

90,000 miles

COMPLAINT #3! Not the last one! Approximately 3 months ago, my A/C air volume decreased significantly. I would try to adjust the a/c knob but would get very little volume at the highest setting. I have not had the time or money to put the truck in the shop again. I tore into the a/c motor under the passenger side dash to find my blend door lying over the orifice from the the fan completely obstructing the flow. I finagled it through the opening to find the hinge completely shattered! How does this happen?! Seriously! So now I have to tear apart the ENTIRE dash (Which recently cracked in 4 major places- previously reported!) to replace the ENTIRE housing! Just for the blend door. They have to make their money somewhere I guess! Going without A/C for around 3 months in the 100s degree heat is a "B" word!

Ram 1500 1500 5.7L V8

Automatic transmission

64,000 miles

Had to replace the A/C Condenser fan @ 64k miles. Noticed the air temperature starting to get hot when the truck sat at idle and also the air that was blowing felt humid. Replaced the fan and it was back to normal.

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